All Entries Tagged With: "margaret gray"
PETER PAN: THE BOY WHO HATED MOTHERS: 96% – SWEET
SWEET Most of the seven actors play multiple roles. They are all gifted with physical agility, grace, and easily switch between different realities and characters. As important is their ability to communicate wonder and joy believably — particularly as adults playing children — and the cast at the Blank Theatre is more than up to [...]
THE PARISIAN WOMAN (SOUTH COAST REP): 85% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET The result, at least in this entertaining if ultimately puzzling world premiere — which unites the star power of rising director Pam MacKinnon (“Clybourne Park”); actors Dana Delany, Steven Culp and Steven Weber; scenic designer Marion Williams; and sound designer Cricket S. Myers — still feels stuck between two genres, its transformation incomplete. Margaret [...]
YEARS TO THE DAY: 82% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET Rants and strategically timed revelations are not, however, ideal substitutes for strong writing. Barton’s play is a laborious 80 minutes, 15 minutes into which angry, mortality-obsessed Dan (Yavnieli) and his sensitive, secrets-stuffed buddy Jeff (LeBeau) are inducing audience weariness. This largely obnoxious and maudlin duo may be in an empty café because, after overhearing [...]
BILLY & RAY: 97% – SWEET
SWEET Still, the most fascinating aspect of “Billy & Ray” is Bencivenga’s smart, knowing script, which captures an important era in filmmaking fueled by two great minds who rose above their shared belief that “if there’s one thing Hollywood hates, it’s originality.” Travis Michael Holder – Backstage SWEET Mike Bencivenga’s World Premiere play Billy & [...]
TOMORROW: 91% – SWEET
SWEET Though this outstanding show will speak particularly to theater people, audiences of every stripe are sure to be enthralled. Iris Mann – Backstage SWEET That the emphasis of the play was not clear (at least to this critic) doesn’t diminish the effective impact of his love of the theatre and why it counts. Dale [...]
TRAINSPOTTING (ELEPHANT THEATRE): 89% – SWEET
SWEET “Trainspotting” is definitely not for the squeamish or faint of heart. It is often as gag-inducing as it is thought-provoking, but with strong direction and performances the production finds the right balance between grim and funny. Katherine Davis – Backstage BITTER The play lives up to expectations – a waste of time. Serita Stevens [...]
SEXSTING: 92% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET “Sexsting” walks some awkward lines. Baizley’s intention may not have been to defend pedophiles, but she certainly does make you feel sorry for JohnnyD. Though her drama is at times powerful, it’s more likely you’ll leave “Sexsting” feeling dirty rather than entertained. Katherine Davis – Backstage SWEET Both Itzin and Cullum give believable, sympathetic [...]
THE GRAPES OF WRATH (A NOISE WITHIN): 86% – SWEET
SWEET A Noise Within’s stellar production of Frank Galati’s 1990 Tony Award–winning stage adaptation honors the novel’s messages, bringing the work to the stage in a way that is sincere, memorable, and deeply relevant. Katherine Davis – Backstage SWEET A Noise Within’s production is agonizing but beautifully realized; it is an excellent example of how [...]
I DON’T HAVE TO SHOW YOU NO STINKING BADGES (CASA 0101): 86% – SWEET
SWEET Casa 0101 artistic director Josefina Lopez, director Hector Rodriguez, and the cast and crew should be very proud of this stellar production. Addressing issues with racial stereotypes is a very challenging thing to tackle but I Don’t Have To Show You No Stinking Badges does so with a sense of humor and realness that [...]
COMPANY (CROWN CITY THEATRE): 94% – SWEET
SWEET Sondheim fans and newcomers alike should take advantage of a rare chance to spend a few hours without kids in this deliciously bittersweet “Company.” Margaret Gray – LA Times SWEET Since I can’t recall a local production since Reprise staged it almost ten years ago, the rarity of Company revivals should be reason enough [...]
CAGED: 92% – SWEET
SWEET Though not overly dramatic, Duncombe’s smartly written script is delightfully provocative and insightful. Performances are sharply calibrated under Frederique Michel’s direction. Lovell Estell III – LA Weekly SWEET Charles A. Duncombe’s “Caged” is itself a fascinating study, full of sharp, funny, and touching observations about the human species, in all its variations. It’s a [...]
TRIASSIC PARQ: THE MUSICAL: 80% – SWEET
SWEET The show’s many charms include playful costumes (by Anthony Tran), vigorous choreography (by Kelly Todd) and the lithe, fearless cast. Margaret Gray – LA Times SWEET It is well worth seeing, wherever you live in Southern California. Daniel Faigin – Observations Along the Road BITTERSWEET The show and its staging are pleasingly wacky and [...]
RUBY WAX: OUT OF HER MIND (BROAD STAGE): 67% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Yes, Freud is the father of modern psychology, but Wax’s warm, disarming approach is entertaining and cathartic enough that she may eventually require the bigger stage. Margaret Gray – LA Times BITTER Largely a showcase for Ms. Wax’s stand-up stylings, the show is hampered equally by weak writing (obvious jokes, lack of structure), self-congratulatory [...]
ANYTHING GOES (AHMANSON THEATRE): 90% – SWEET
SWEET After seeing opening night of “Anything Goes” at that Ahmanson, I’m still humming the tunes this morning. In these dark economic times this top notch Roundabout Theatre Company production is a great pick me up. Jana Monji – LA Examiner SWEET Could tap-dancing possibly be as fun as Rachel York makes it look? She [...]
MRS. MANNERLY (THEATRE 40): 60% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET However, I thought it was a little unfinished in the production cycle. I didn’t care for the blocking or the staging. Rose Desena – The Los Angeles Post BITTERSWEET But “Mrs. Mannerly,” at least in this uneven production, feels more like a witty essay than a full-grown play. Margaret Gray – LA Times BITTER [...]
POTENTIAL SPACE: 87% – SWEET
SWEET Directed by Bill Voorhees, the show registers as raunchy, reiterative, at times histrionic; it is also honest, funny and, speaking as a woman, easy to relate to. As a performer, Vangsness, who seems to specialize in loopy ladies with a forthright edge, does not disappoint. Deborah Klugman – LA Weekly SWEET The result is [...]
ROME AT THE END OF THE LINE: 95% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET Although the dialogue is witty (the play is performed in Spanish, with English supertitles, which often pop onscreen a little too early, stomping on some of the punch lines), director Alberto Lomnitz seems overly eager to draw attention to its pathos, which would come across just as well — or even more effectively — [...]
INHERIT THE WIND (OLD GLOBE): 83% – SWEET
SWEET Neither the trial nor the 1955 theatricalization was as straightforward as it appeared, but for today’s audiences, solid revivals like Adrian Noble’s Old Globe Festival staging (through September 25) still draw currency from the ongoing science-religion stalemate. Cristofer Gross – TheaterTimes SWEET At the Old Globe this fact doesn’t stop Adrian Noble’s spirited cast [...]
MACBETH (ANTAEUS): 95% – SWEET
SWEET From that heartbreaking opening funeral—director Kubzansky’s invention which informs the rest of the play—the couple’s intensity and depth of feeling for each other is riveting. Mr. Nagle gives the lord a humanity that is by turns appealing and appalling. Ms Auberjonois’ decent into madness is truly effective. Steve Peterson – Grigware Blogspot SWEET At [...]
HOUSE (ROGUE MACHINE): 83% – SWEET
SWEET You can see why Smith was attracted to this role — it would be a plum opportunity for any actor — and also why director Nitzkin pegged him, with his beautiful speaking voice and edgy charisma, to be master of this “House.” Margaret Gray – LA Times SWEET Were this just a bath of [...]
DAVID DEAN BOTTRELL MAKES LOVE! (BEST OF FRINGE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Watching David Dean Bottrell Makes Love my heart broke while my sides hurt from laughing as he dished about his disastrous blind date, a boyfriend with a substance abuse issue, and most touching, his complicated relationship with his Kentucky father. Xaque Gruber – Huffington Post SWEET Even when he’s insulting everybody in the room, [...]
TRIO LOS MACHOS: 58% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET Although the production feels bumpy and under-rehearsed, its portrait of the trio glows with a deep and memorable sympathy. Margaret Gray – LA Times SWEET The cast members are stronger musicians than they are actors, and the gifted guitarists and impassioned singers carry the play to its greatest emotional heights. Sara Taylor Ellis – [...]
THE SLEEPER (THEATRE TRIBE): 100% – SWEET
SWEET Theatre Tribe continues its long string of unconventional hits with Catherine Butterfield’s The Sleeper. Laura Hitchcock – CurtainUp SWEET Gretchen complains in the dark comedy “The Sleeper,” now at Theatre Tribe, that our country had been attacked “for no reason?” As this zippy, hilarious revival of Catherine Butterfield’s 2004 play, flawlessly directed by Theatre [...]
BEAUTIFIED: 75% – BITTERSWEET
BITTERSWEET With a running time of almost two hours, either an intermission or, better yet, some judicious trimming by director Jenny Sullivan (even in Candy’s tear-inducing closing monologue) would make for a more perfectly coifed tale of the two friends. Gil Kaan – Culture Spot LA BITTER These are too many topics for one play [...]
IT IS DONE: 67% – BITTERSWEET
SWEET Angelinos can count themselves fortunate indeed that Goldberg and Ojeda have made the transcontinental jump to our left coast shores and brought It Is Done with them. With its truly surprising twists and turns, Goldberg’s thriller is a gasp-worthy winner and its leading lady’s performance a bona fide dazzler. Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA SWEET [...]
NOBODY LOVES YOU: 88% – SWEET
BITTER The score is mostly generic rock and definitely loud — so much so, that the cast has to use face mics to be heard above the din in a theater that is all of five rows deep. Indeed, anyone above age 25 should be advised to bring ear plugs — and perhaps check their [...]
THE LEARNED LADIES (ACTORS CO-OP): 80% – SWEET
SWEET Actor’s Co-op stages Moliere’s The Learned Ladies (Les Femmes Savantes) with such panache, you’d think they’d been doing the French master on at least a yearly basis rather than a mere twice in seventeen years. Steven Stanley – StageSceneLA SWEET In the American tradition, or one of them, the plays are treated in arch, [...]
SLEEPING UGLY: 87% – SWEET
BITTERSWEET The show has its moments, and Schulman’s gift for snappy dialogue regularly crops up, but “Sleeping Ugly” ultimately seems more suited to the small screen than the small stage. David C. Nichols – Backstage SWEET A hilariously touching, insanely unique theatrical “adult fairy tale” … this ambitiously creative offering is unlike any I’ve ever [...]
THE HEIRESS (PASADENA PLAYHOUSE): 97% – SWEET
SWEET The theater might want to frisk future ticketholders for produce, or add an anger-management session to the bill: It’s that hard to handle the emotions provoked by this gorgeously directed and acted revival. Margaret Gray – LA Times SWEET “The Heiress” can easily devolve into a potboiler costume drama in the wrong hands, but [...]
THE CONVERT: 89% – SWEET
SWEET The devastating clash between Western culture and religion and African tradition and spirituality is at the heart of this masterful new work. Director Emily Mann has mounted a production that’s as compelling as it is gorgeous. Jennie Webb – Backstage SWEET Brought to life by Emily Mann’s subtle direction, a splendid set by Daniel [...]
